Comin' Round the Mountain

I've been posting a lot of pictures of California's golden rolling hills lately, since I've been traveling a lot through that part of the state. A golden hillside dotted with dark live oak trees is pretty easy on the eyes.

But that's not the only landscape California has to offer. California's got the beach, the redwoods, lakes like Tahoe, the crisp rocky Sierra Nevadas, the flat salt pans of Death Valley and neighboring creases--a huge range in landscape.

So rather than post another sunset today, or another picture of a hillside with an oak, or another picture from a bike ride, I decided I'd put up a picture of Mount Shasta, which I passed right before I got to Yreka, where I'm spending the night. (I spent most of today in Sacramento.)

This majestic massif towers over the north end of California's Central Valley, visible from miles in every direction. It really owns the whole north end of the state. Nothing near it really compares in size or breathtaking splendor. It's not part of a string of mountains; this volcanic peak stands more or less alone.

Enough words. Here's what it looked like tonight: